Le manège enchanté

I got to confess I was way too young to enjoy this TV show in any meaningful way. Still, in some weird way, some of these characters are part of my happy subconscious, my dreamscapes.

A series where a clothed rabbit lives side by side with a naked cow, a giant snail, an out-of-the-box jack-in-the-box, and an assortment of quirky characters has to assuredly be memorable. Even to 4-year-old me.

What we've got here is a French series for very young children (from zero to seven or eight years, I'd say, although I'm not much of a judge of age categories). It's an immensely charming series which started out in France but gradually conquered large parts of the known world. I remember watching it as a child, and being absolutely delighted by it.

The series had much to recommend it : a variety of friendly and well-drawn characters, sweet songs, pleasant stories and a nice line in gentle wit. The various episodes were short, too, which turned them into ideal bedtime stories or sweet little treats.

Looked at from a 2019 perspective, the series has gained an additional charm : it's got a cosy, handmade feel to it, which contrasts nicely with all the computer-generated and/or decided-by-commission crap released nowadays. (One does not need much imagination to picture two or three Frenchmen in shirtsleeves carefully moving the dog Pollux, one meticulous millimetre after another, while discussing the merits of the 'coq au vin' in the local bistro. Meanwhile there's another Frenchman sitting on a nearby chair, smoking a cigarette and making cutting remarks about the latest presidential address.)

Mind you, I'm talking about the first and original "Magic Roundabout". The creation went through various later adaptations. I never saw one of those but I do know that both the tone and the look changed - and probably not for the better...

I am old enough to remember coming home from kindergarten to be sat down in front of Dougal, Florence et-al, whilst my mother made lunch. I never quite understood why Zebedee was such a killjoy, "Time for bed" is not something any young child, excited by life wants to hear!. I also never got that Dylan was a hippie (and as we later surmised in college,permanently stoned!), I thought he was cool! I can still sing (or at least hum) the theme tune, and have gratefully introduced it years ago to my own two children as something that had enough inherent wit and charm (all kudos to Eric Thompson)to entertain both children and adults. Nothing terribly momentous usually happened to the characters. But there was a story with a beginning,a middle and an end, however strange! It portrayed an innocence sadly lacking in a lot of today's children's programming. Life was just fun. No agenda. No political correctness. Things just happened. Because they do. And Dougal's sugar addiction never sent him to Rehab! The animation was simple and charming, as were Eric Thompson's portrayal of the characters. Even when I, in later life, discovered that there was a French original, I was never inclined to watch it in French to find out what they were actually saying (despite speaking passable French and having enough French friends to find out what I couldn't understand). The Magic Roundabout stands for me with such charming child classics as Bagpuss, Trumpton Town,(see who remembers that British classic!)and Mr. Ben. All the colours of my childhood. Not shaded with cynicism. Enjoy!

I remember this children's television programme. I used to watch it when I was younger and it was shown on Channel 4 in the 1990s. I heard it was shown on the BBC in between 1965 and 1977. I thought I found it very entertaining.

Eric Thompson did a great job for narrating this series.

Back in summer 2005, I watched some extras in the DVD of The Magic Roundabout when I was fifteen years old and I revealed the classic children's television programme of the same name was originally made in France. I did not even know that The Magic Roundabout was French. I thought it was made in the UK.

Anyway I still like The Magic Roundabout. My favourite characters are Dougal, Zebedee, Dylan and Florence.

It's great the way Eric Thompson added his own witty commentary to a French children's programme. That's what made it so good. He watched it with the sound turned off and devised his own narration in a manner similar to Woody Allen in "What's Up Tiger Lily". A lot of the humour was a bit too advanced for kids and a most of the jokes would have been lost on them but Mums and Dads enjoyed it and this is the reason for the programme's enduring popularity.